[HTTYD] His Soul Reflects My Own: Ready The Ships

His Soul Reflects My Own, a DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon fanfic by Raberba girl

Chapter "Ready The Ships" (rough draft)

Hiccup felt light-headed and sick.  The look on his father's face turned his insides to jelly as the chief stormed toward him and seized his arm, yanking him away from Astrid and dragging him off as if he weighed nothing.  The utter helplessness Hiccup felt was bad enough; the stomach-churning dread at what was in store for him was bad enough.  Still, he would have gratefully endured anything if only he knew that Toothless was safe.

But his best friend was in almost the worst danger Hiccup could possibly imagine for him, panic was making it hard for Hiccup to breathe, and he could feel his heart getting ripped to shreds as he listened to the silence behind him.  Beneath the shocked and angry human shouting, there was silence.  Surely the Night Fury would be screaming if he could, Hiccup knew how terrible it must be for Toothless to be so trapped and helpless as the person he loved so much was taken away from him, and Hiccup could practically feel that pain and terror as if it was his own.  "Dad--"

"KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT."

Stoick stalked down the broad corridor until he reached the closest auditorium to the arena, a theater that was currently empty and barely lit.  Hiccup was thrown inside so forcefully that he barely managed to stay on his feet.  Stoick slammed the door shut against the wide-eyed, staring faces of bystanders outside and began to pace, muttering furiously to himself.

Hiccup sucked in a deep breath and gathered his courage.  "D-Dad...please--"

"You're in league with them!" Stoick spat, rounding on his son with fury and betrayal in his eyes.

"I didn't mean to--  It's--"

"How long has--?  It's everything, isn't it!  You've been deceiving us from the beginning!"

"I screwed up," Hiccup said desperately, his eyes stinging.  "I'm the worst, I--  I just--  Punish me however you want, I ruined everything and I deserve it, just, please, don't hurt Toothless.  Please--"

"The dragon?!  You nearly get a dozen people killed, but all you care about is the DRAGON?!"

"He was just protecting me!  If you hadn't--  They're not monsters, Dad, they're people and they--"

"How could you do this?!  My own son, a traitor, all that spilled blood might as well be on your hands--"

"Dad, stop--"

"How could you do this to--?!"

"They're slaves, Dad!  Their queen, sh-she sends them out, they have to bring back, if they don't they'll get eaten--"

Stoick had whipped around and was staring at him.  "What?"

Hiccup felt a flicker of desperate hope.  "The homeworld, there's this thing that's, she's the monster, she--"

"YOU'VE BEEN TO THEIR HOMEWORLD??"

Hiccup cursed himself silently.  Why had he thought for even one second that his father would actually listen?  "I didn't--  You can't get there, you can't get there, Dad.  The only reason we even made it there and back at all was because Toothless brought us--"

"That dragon."

Hiccup's skin crawled with horror when he saw the look on his father's face and realized what it meant.  "No!  N-No, Dad, you can't, she will crush you, you can take the entire city to fight against her but she'll still--"  His father had shoved him aside and was now striding back toward the door.  "Dad, please!"  Hiccup ran after him, snatching at his arm, desperate to make him understand.  "You've got to listen to me, even if you never listen to me again--!"

Stoick whirled to shake him off, but then cold fury flashed across his expression and he ended up gripping Hiccup's arm.  Hiccup gasped in pain; his father was too angry at this moment to know his own strength.  "Give me your ID," the chief said, his voice like ice.

Hiccup's vision swam as he began to lose his battle against the tears.  "Dad--"

"NOW."

Hiccup had known it would come to this.  He had known it would almost certainly happen someday, but the pain in his heart was still unbearable as he accessed his chip and brought up his personal identification file.  He had to raise his other arm to stifle a sob, unable to watch as nearly all the data in his ID was stripped away.  He no longer belonged to Berk; as far as the official records were concerned, he might as well have died in the arena.  This was no longer his home, he was now an enemy to the people he'd grown up with....

Stoick slammed the door back open.  "Get out, Outcast."

Hiccup, nearly staggering with shame and grief, shuffled past the chieftain.

"You," Stoick snapped at the nearest soldier, "arrest this intruder and have him escorted past our boundaries."  A collective gasp and muttering went up from everyone within earshot as they realized the implication.

"Sir?" the man said uncertainly, his face pale.

"You have your orders!"

"Y-Yes, sir!"  He stared wide-eyed at Hiccup, who gazed back at him numbly.  After a moment, Hiccup raised his hands a little to allow handcuffs to be fastened around his wrists.

Stoick made a wordless sound.  Hiccup couldn't bear to look at the man who was no longer his father, so he didn't see Stoick angrily jerking out all the cash in his wallet, shoving it into his coat pocket, then shrugging out of the coat and practically throwing it at the exiled boy.  Hiccup flinched and cowered when the garment unexpectedly collided with him.  It was so heavy that it would have still dropped to the floor even if he had managed to catch it.

"Go," Stoick ordered roughly.  More people were joining the crowd of astonished spectators, including soldiers stepping up to assist in the arrest.  One of them picked up the heavy coat that still lay at Hiccup's feet when the boy made no move to do so himself.

Hiccup stared at the chieftain, trembling.  If the man had chosen to show some mercy, then perhaps....  "D--  Sir," Hiccup called desperately.  Stoick had already turned to stalk away; he growled and didn't pause, though his pace slowed.  "I'll g-go, but, just, please, please let me take Toothless with me, I promise we'll never come near Berk again--"

"GET HIM OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Stoick roared.

A hand closed around Hiccup's arm and tugged, rather gently.  He stumbled blindly in the direction they led him, focused on trying not to cry.

There was a small commotion as Gobber pushed through the crowd and came up to Stoick, whispering urgently into his ear.  Stoick frowned, and the two men consulted in low voices for a moment.  Then Stoick turned back toward Hiccup's retreating figure with a scowl.  "...Wait."

The men paused, looking to him for orders.

"Bring him to the laboratory first."

o.o.o.o.o

Despite being restrained by disruptors, the Night Fury was shackled down as if everyone was afraid he might still jump up and attack them anyway.  As soon as Hiccup and the others entered the room, Hiccup let out a cry and rushed to his friend.  "Toothless!"

Once again, the dragon was wide awake rather than in a stupor.  He was unable to move or make a sound, but his eyes, the pupils slitted in terror, fixed intently upon Hiccup.

"Toothless, hey, hey buddy," Hiccup said, no longer bothering to hide his tears.  "Hey...hey, I'm gonna get you out of here, just hang on--"

"Don't talk to it," Stoick snapped.  "The only reason you're here is to break into that chip, so do it now."

"Da--  Sir, if you please just--"

"NOW, HICCUP."

Hiccup stared up at him, his chest heaving as he tried to contain his emotions.  "Wh...Why should I just do whatever you tell me to do?  What more can you possibly do to me?  Beat me?  Kill me?  Go ahead, I don't care, but as long as I--"

"DO AS YOU'RE TOLD."  Then, perhaps recognizing the stubborn glint in his eyes before Hiccup could even pause defiantly, "Unless you want me to find a motivation that will work on you."

Hiccup saw the chief's huge fist poised over his dragon's helpless body, and his eyes widened in horror.  Whether Stoick meant the threat intentionally or not didn't matter.  It was clear that Hiccup did still have a weakness, and as his mind raced, it occurred to him that there was still room for rebellion.  If he pretended to comply, accessing the dragon's chip to set him free rather than do whatever they actually wanted....

"Don't hurt him," Hiccup whispered.  He moved close and rested his fingertips against the Night Fury's chip, caressing Toothless's face with his other hand as best he could with his wrists still cuffed together.  "Hey," he murmured, sensing the other humans retreating.  "Hey, bud...hey...."

He entered the access code, and was surprised when it was denied.  "What?"  He tried it again, more carefully this time.  When it still didn't work, he realized that Toothless must be locking him out deliberately.  "Toothless...."  The backs of his fingers moved gently across the dragon's skin.  "Please let me in, bud," he whispered.  "I promise I won't hurt you.  I promise."

Tears had welled up in the dragon's eyes.

"I love you," Hiccup whispered, quietly enough for only his dragon to hear.

Toothless closed his eyes, sending the tears spilling down his cheeks.  Hiccup shifted his hand to try again, but before he could, all the security disappeared, leaving the chip completely open to him.  "Tooth--"

One of the technicians spoke up as information unfurled across his screen.  "We're in, Stoick."

Hiccup didn't even have a chance to start aiming for the disruptors when he was startled to see remote activity on the chip.  Toothless was forced unconscious, everything Hiccup had done was being logged--  He felt hands gripping his shoulders.  "Wait--"

He was being dragged away, Toothless was completely vulnerable to anything his captors wanted to do to him, his betrayed expression before he'd lost consciousness seemed to be burned into Hiccup's memory--  "Wait!  Dad, wait, please!  DAD!"  Then he was screaming at the top of his voice, fighting wildly and crying, as if to vent all the horrified rage that Toothless couldn't.  "LET ME GO!!  LET ME GO, DAD YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING-- GOBBER!  GOBBER, LET HIM GO, PLEASE, GOBBER, PLEASE...!"

o.o.o.o.o

The sedation wore off slowly.  Hiccup knew that he was in a moving vehicle, but it was a very long time before he registered the knowledge.  Even then, he didn't want to move, he just slumped there staring out at the flashing sunbeams sparkling through the leaves, and he thought in the back of his mind that something was wrong.  'Something...is....  Toothless...Toothless isn't...here....'

The vehicle finally came to a stop.  One of the men came around to tug Hiccup out of the seat and haul him over to a tree.  Hiccup promptly sank to his knees as soon as the man let go, his head hanging because it felt too heavy to lift.

There was some rummaging and footsteps, and something big and soft thumped to the ground in front of Hiccup.  The footsteps retreated, and the vehicle drove away.  The big soft thing looked nice to rest on, so Hiccup lay on it, and couldn't understand why tears started sliding down his face until he realized that the coat smelled like his father.  'I hate him....'

Apparently he fell asleep, because he suddenly awakened and saw that the sun had shifted to late afternoon.  Hiccup struggled to sit up, horrified and furious.  "Toothless--"  He groaned as he held his head, which ached.  'They...they--!'

They had drugged him.  He'd been fighting tooth and nail to get back to his dragon, so they'd drugged him and shipped him out of the city and dumped him in the middle of the woods, with nothing but the clothes on his back and--

Hiccup scrambled away from Stoick's coat as if it was a dead animal.  He stared at it for a minute, wide-eyed and seething.  Then he let out an angry yell and got to his feet and kicked it, but it was too soft to be at all satisfying, so he kicked the tree.

'Toothless....'  He couldn't get the image of the Night Fury out of his head, poor Toothless captured and fated to die, thinking that Hiccup had betrayed him to his enemies who hated him....  "I'm coming for you, Toothless," Hiccup choked out.  "I'll get you back, or I'll die trying...."  It wasn't like he had anything else to live for now, anyway.

He glared at the coat and started to walk away from it....  But he didn't make it very far before he was forced to acknowledge that it would be stupid to give in to pride.  He could get by just fine right now with the sun was shining, but he was definitely going to need that coat once the temperature dropped at night, especially if he couldn't find proper shelter before then.  And if he did somehow manage to get into another city, then he would definitely need that money.

Hiccup swore.  "I hate this."  He reluctantly retrieved the coat, shook off the leaves and dirt clinging to it, and pulled it over his shoulders.  The stupid thing dwarfed him and sat very heavily on his thin frame, but at least it was warm.  "I hate this...."  He pulled out the money and counted it.  There was nearly 150 credits, enough to last him for at least a few weeks if he was careful.

That was assuming he'd be able to get into a city.  Most wouldn't take him in legally; he would have to sneak in, and he'd be caught and imprisoned, perhaps even executed, the moment he was forced to present his ID for any reason.  He might be able to create a fake ID for minor use, but not one that could hold up to close scrutiny.  It was too risky.

'Would the Outcasts take me in...?'  Their community wasn't formally recognized by any of the city-states, but an Outcast tribe did exist.  Hiccup just wasn't sure whether he wanted to join their ranks, considering that most Outcasts were criminals....  Though he might not have a choice if he wanted to survive long enough to help his friend.

Hiccup stopped and looked up when he heard the sound of ships passing overhead.  They were marked with Berk's crest, and it looked like the entire fleet....  He wondered which one Toothless was on.  He wondered if it was the same one Stoick was on.  He wondered how he was ever going to get onto that ship once they traveled to--

The ships vanished.  Hiccup blinked up at the sky, then caught his breath when he realized they must have traveled to the dragons' homeworld.  'No...no...no, no, no, no, no....'  He clenched his hands into fists.  'It doesn't matter.  I'll find a way.  No matter what it takes, I'll find a--'

He whirled around at the sound of an approaching powerbike.  When he'd confirmed it in the distance, weaving swiftly through the trees toward him, Hiccup fumbled for his knife and was relieved to find that it hadn't been taken from him.  He knew he couldn't escape on foot, and he wouldn't be able to climb a tree high enough before the rider reached him.  There was almost no way Hiccup the Useless would be able to win a fight, either, but at least standing his ground wasn't completely hopeless from the beginning.

The bike came to a stop in front of him, its rider removed the helmet - and Hiccup exhaled, his knife-hand falling limply to his side.  "Astrid."

She swung off the bike and approached.  "You look terrible."

"Being disowned in front of the entire city will do that to a guy," Hiccup said dully.

"I heard you put up a fight."

"They took Toothless away.  He's gonna die.  So's my father.  Except he's not my father anymore."  Hiccup watched her.  "What do you want?  We're supposed to be enemies now."

"You're not my enemy, Hiccup."

"...."

"Soooo, you're just gonna stand here and let them kill your Night Fury?"

"No."  There was a long silence.  "...I just don't know what else to do.  ...Yet.  ...Or ever."  He sighed.  "I go to all that trouble of saving a dragon's life and helping it fly again, but now he's just gonna die anyway....  But hey, 'Better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all'....  Yeah.  Whoever made that up, I want to punch him in the face."  Hiccup looked at her.  "Why are you letting me ramble?  You should have hit me by now."  He pointed to his arm.  "I don't have a bruise here yet, so this spot's free.  Better rectify that little problem, huh."

"You really are a mess."

"Yep.  Yep, that's me, Screw-up Hiccup, world's worst Viking.  Except now I'm not even a Viking at all."

"Hiccup?"

"What."

"Why did you go to all the trouble of saving his life?"

Hiccup sighed again.  "Didn't you hear me?  World's worst Viking.  I'm such an idiot, such a coward, that I couldn't kill a dragon even when it was sprawled at my feet, completely at my mercy."

"Yeah, but why, Hiccup.  Why?"

Sudden anger surged through him.  "Who cares why?" he shouted.

Her voice, though perfectly controlled, was a match for his in determination.  "I care.  I want to know."

He blinked at the seriousness of her tone.  "I...I just couldn't, Astrid.  I knew I had to, I knew I was supposed to, he's a dragon and I'm - was - a Viking, I wanted so much to...to make my father proud of me...."  Tears stung his eyes, and he angrily blinked them away.  "But I just...I looked at him, and I just couldn't do it.  He was...as scared as I was.  He was...."

The tears were back, though for different reasons this time.  "It was like...I looked into his eyes and could see...his soul...and it was like it was reflecting my--"  'What am I talking about?'  "Just forget it, Astrid.  This is stupid, this whole thing is so stupid, I'm stupid, I--"  He had to shut up before he started crying again.

After a while, Astrid said softly, "It must be so awful to feel so helpless.  To not be able to move your body at all, to not be able to save yourself, to know you're headed into so much danger and have no one to help you or feel sorry for you...."

"Stop," Hiccup whispered.

"I bet if it was the other way around, he'd be coming to rescue you."

"Of COURSE he would!  But it's a LITTLE easier for him because he's a DRAGON and can actually GET into their--"  Hiccup broke off, his eyes widening.  Astrid grinned a little to see it.  "There's dragons in Berk," Hiccup said.  He whirled, started for the powerbike, halted, and looked over his shoulder at her desperately.

"Come on, Dragon Boy," Astrid said, striding past him to mount the bike and then give him an expectant look.

"You'll...you'll let me into the city?"

"Get on the bike, Hiccup."

He rushed to obey.

To be continued....